The Blood Lilly
by Deamon PumaWolf
Summary: Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs and his team stumble upon a gruesome scene...
1. Prolouge

_**The Blood Lilly**_

**Prologue:**

Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs stood amazed. Blood was splattered everywhere. Smears ran vertically up and down the walls and the area was covered in, what he could only guess to be, human shrapnel. Looking around the room the only other evidence of a crime, that he could spot, was the left over's from some strange vaguely satanic-looking ritual. Half burnt candles littered the floor and a small silver knife was stuck tip down in-between the floorboards as if someone threw it there. Raising his camera to eye level he slowly began the monotonous process of taking pictures. His mind focused on the evidence at hand- instead of his juvenile field agents.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or affiliate characters.


	2. Chapter 1

_The Blood Lilly_

Chapter 1

As Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo entered the scene he trailed behind his boss. It was currently, four thirty four A.M. on a Sunday and his mood wasn't the greatest. Groggy and irritable, he'd been awoken by the shrill ringing of his cell phone. McGeek's unprompted comments on his sexual escapades were grating on his nerves and, on the brink of punching him in the face, he realized what a horror show they were actually walking into. Smacking McGee on the back of his head he corrected Ziva's 'Little Shop of Horrors' reference; and made one of his own.

"It looks more like the guy from Saw got a hold of firecrackers and let loose…"

Getting a pair of gloves out of his bag, as well as a couple dozen evidence bags, he started to follow his Boss. Methodically he picked up pieces of shredded epidermal tissues and cataloged them. Noting the lack of internal body tissues he turned to see where the others were processing. McGeek had grabbed his own camera and had gone counter clock wise to Gibbs; Ziva though, was busy documenting the odd candle arraignment.

"There's no internal tissue that I can sort out… just shredded skin. It's like some one took off just their skin and put it in a blender. Then they left the cap off and went wild."

McGee paled at the thought while Gibbs continued to snap photos. Walking over as Ziva motioned to him he followed her eyes. From where they were, standing in the middle of the candles, they could see that a pentagram was carved into the wooden floor. Motioning to the candles she began speaking.

"It seems pagan at first, the placements of the points. The main point pointing north, the two side points lining up perfectly east and west… but the candle placement is far to abstract, though they still have pagan influences…"

Coming over to the two Gibbs grunted _Satanic_ but from the other side of the room McGeek spoke up in disagreement.

"Not satanic…" he commented as he walked over to the group. Pointing to the two almost invisible chalk lines that were almost parallel to the carved lines that formed the top point he began again.

"The star is a pentagram. The lines parallel to the topmost point are drawn in very faint green chalk that's composed by a few select minerals. The candles, if you look, are alternating white and blue in a circular pattern around the pentagram. The knife in the floor there has etchings on it in what look to be Gaelic. Smell the air as well; what does that smell like to you?"

Taking a whiff Dinozzo almost gagged as the odor that came from the shredded skin and splattered blood hit him. Getting his senses to adjust he took another sniff. The funk from the gore almost covered it completely but he could smell the remnants of smoke that the candles left but nothing else. Giving up Tony looked over towards Ziva; her eyes closed in thought as she took deep breaths. Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth. He watched as her fingers slowly beat out a rhythmic patter on her pants. Noticing her posture change, Tony let his eyes wander back up to her face.

"Lavender…" She said, her eyes remaining closed as she tried to decipher the rest of what she was taking in. Surprisingly Gibbs spoke up next, breaking Ziva's concentration which forced her to open her eyes.

"Lemon… Why the hell do we smell Lavender and Lemon, in the middle of this blood bath of a crime scene McGee? And how does that make this not a satanic ritual?"

Tony looked over at McGee and watched as his 'know-it-all' smirk weaseled its way onto his face.

"The reason you smell Lavender and Lemon is because they are burnt during the smudging stage of the ritual. _That_ is why it cannot be a satanic scene; you would have smelled burnt cinnamon or something similar if it was. The Lemon and Lavender are used to 'purify' the area of bad spirits and wishes." Turning his focus on Gibbs, Tony noticed the doubt plainly written on his face.

"Fine. Finish processing the scene and then get the samples sent straight to Abby." He said as he went back to taking pictures.

As he went back to bagging and tagging Tony noticed that Ziva was still looking around the scene. They had cleared the rest of the house which consisted of a somewhat dirty kitchen and bathroom. The living room housed a flat screen T.V. and a couple leather couches. There were two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms was a master suit that not only housed a king sized bed but yet another flat screen T.V. and a smaller room that looked like it belonged to a fifteen or sixteen year old boy. The room they currently were in was located in the back of the house; off of the master bedroom.

"…besides the bizarre ritual…this is the only room in the house not furnished… there aren't even curtains on the windows." Ziva pointed out; writing something in her notepad as she went back to analyzing her surroundings. Tony agreed, though something seemed off. Looking up he noticed huge skylights in the ceiling that made it so you could see the sky, unobstructed, from every corner of the room.

"Nice skylights though…" he said as he started tagging and bagging the candles that surrounded her. He ignored the fact that McGee was groaning about picking up and bagging the skin.

"Have we gotten any information on the whereabouts of the family yet? Or are we gonna have to wait till we get back to HQ?" He asked Gibbs who had- grudgingly- started loading up the car with the items that were already logged.

"None yet, or else I would have sent you and McGee out to go look for them." He stated plainly, motioning for him to get back to work. Sighing Dinozzo finished bagging and logging the candles and went back to join McGee in bagging skin shreds while Ziva was dusting the knife for prints.

Four hours later the team finally left the scene; leaving what was there for the cleaners to finish up. They had what they needed bagged, tagged, and logged and now they were finally on their way back to the Navy Yard. Dinozzo slumped in the back seat, head against the window and trying to sleep off the rest of his hangover while McGee and Ziva theorized about what happened. Gibbs drove, ignoring the chatter and most of the other drivers on the road, hoping that the sooner they got back the sooner he could get his coffee.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or affiliate characters.


	3. Chapter 2

_**The Blood Lilly**_

Chapter 2

Ziva sighed as she placed the last box of evidence on the sleek metal examination table, ecstatic that the hour long process of unloading was over. Looking around she spotted Abby looking into a microscope. Coming up beside her she glanced at the laptop that Abby had next to her. Sample calculations flashed across its screen and it was emitting a high pitched beep. Without a 'Hello, how are you?', or even a simple hi Abby pushed passed Ziva to another table in the lab.

"Is that all of it?" Abby asked as she dug through a pile of tissue samples that looked almost identical. Seemingly in a hurry, Ziva watched amazed, as Abby raced back to her microscope. Quickly analyzing what was being emitted from her laptop she looked into it. "Is that all? Or is McGee bringing another box down?" She asked again as she adjusted the field of vision of the slide.

"No, there are no more boxes. And McGee is currently searching for every little horsal of information on the Caulfield's so that Gibbs does not kill him." She explained as she watched as Abby continued to mess with the slide and now also the focus knobs.

"Morsel Ziva, and is that the name of the family who let their spare room be used as a demon summoning spot?" She asked, glaring at her microscope as she turned to face Ziva. Nodding Ziva went and looked into the microscope which caused her friend so much pain.

"What is wrong Abby? You are acting like Gibbs when he does not have his coffee."Groaning Abby motioned for her to take another look at the slide. While Ziva looked at the slide again, Abby walked over to her laptop and began pulling up images from the samples she had taken.

"I don't see anything wrong Abby. It looks like a slide to me." Ziva said as she turned to face Abby.

"Those cells are all somatic cells. Each cell, like the one on the left side of the screen, should have one, somewhat large, dark coloured dot in it. But from the sample of the tissues you brought me, most of the cells had multiple dots, very little of the cells had just one dark dot." She explained as she motioned to the right hand of the screen. Five different cells were there, each having multiple dots.

Nodding, Ziva analyzed the cells on the screen then went back and looked into the microscope. Noting the difference she turned back to Abby who was once again typing away on the laptop. Looking back at the slide again she noticed that the cells that had multiple dots seemed larger than the others as well. "What is the difference if there are just one or multiple dots?" Ziva asked as she continued to look at the cells. Pausing in her typing Abby looked over at Ziva who was now moving the slide slightly so she could see more of the sample.

"Those dark dots are nuclei. A cell, no matter if it's a somatic cell or a gamete, has one nucleus. Not multiple. No human cell could work with multiple nuclei. Apoptosis would occur and the cell would die; but these seem to have been healthy, active cells. There is no way that should be even remotely possible." She said exasperation evident in her voice.

Taking one last look at the slide, and its highly improbable cells, Ziva sighed. Wondering why their team got all the freaky cases, she thought back to how the room was set up. Her mossad instincts were telling her they were related. The entire set up seemed to contradictory to not be related. The candles, the pentagram, the knife, and of course the bloody shreds of tissue. It was made to look satanic but it was then purified thus defeating that purpose. The knife is what stood out to her though. There was not a single drop of blood on it and even luminal turned up not trace residue.

"Abby, have you run the prints I got off of the knife? It can't be coincidence that there wasn't any blood on it." She said as she made her way to the processed evidence piles, ones that Abby had made while they were busy unloading the rest of the boxes, and dug through it till she found the knife. Abby responded with a 'Still running them' while she busily started sorting through older case files on her computer. She was trying to see if she could match the strange multi-nucleus occurrence to a case- even if it was not her own. Pulling the knife out of the pile, she grabbed a pair of gloves and slipped them on, gazing at the inscriptions she grinned. "McGee is gonna love decoding this." She said as she flipped the knife over, eyeing up the inscriptions on the other side.

"Already did that Ziva. I learned Gaelic when I was little because I was interested in Irish and Scottish mythology; this stuff was a little harder to decipher though, because it's older than the Gaelic I know, but I managed to get it done easily enough with a help of a friend of mine." Abby explained as she motioned towards a few print outs in the printer on the other side of the room then went back to her laptop.

Walking over to the printer Ziva picked up the papers. Noting that the actual inscription was only about a paragraph long, she flipped through the other papers. Copies of the paragraph; for the team she assumed. Reading over the passage she looked over at Abby; not sure if this was some joke or not. "What did you get out of this passage Abby? I fear might have misunderstood or…" she dragged on, not really sure what to say. Looking up at Ziva from her laptop Abby smiled.

"Did I forget to tell you? I think we're dealing with were-people or morpho-genic people… I haven't quite figured that out yet. The wording in the passage is, as I already said, quite old. So I couldn't figure out the certain definition of some of the words… but there are a few possible definitions on the last page I think are, at least close to what they mean." Abby explained happily, forgetting about the nucleus problem for a moment. "You should probably bring that up to Bossman though. He'll probably get McGee to work on that as well just to confirm it."

Nodding, Ziva placed the papers down and put the knife back in its bag. Taking her gloves off, she tossed them carefully into the garbage before picking up the papers once more. "Gibbs is never going to believe this Abby… "She said as she walked out of the lab, leaving Abby to go back to the cell problem. Abby just laughed as Ziva made that comment.

"He has to Ziva, that's where the evidence is leading!" She called after her before the elevator doors closed on Ziva.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or affiliate characters.


	4. Chapter 3

_**The Blood Lilly**_

AN: In advance I will say sorry if this chapter does not meet your expectation, I was suffering from extreme writers block (thanks to my damn AP exam) and I am now getting back into the swing of things. So, for those who stick with me- I will give you a cookie… or you may request something else.

~Deam

**Chapter 3:**

McGee watched as the rest of the team worked. Gibbs was currently reading notes that he had taken while on scene, Tony was (for once) busily typing away at his computer, and Ziva; well she was currently missing. Most likely she had stayed down in the lab with Abby once the last of the boxes had been brought in.

The case had not been a pleasant one so far and he was currently trying to keep some of his past memories suppressed for fear that the team would get suspicious if he let them take priority. He had been a tab bit fast with providing facts and he was sure at least one of his team members had noticed- if not Gibbs himself. I'm a tech geek. I shouldn't have jumped the gun like that. It's one thing when Abby pulls out facts like that but for me, it is not something that I should be able to do, let alone on a subject like that.

With a sigh McGee returned to watching his computer screen as his fingers deftly worked their way across the key board. Gibbs would be sure to ask him if he had found anything on the Caulfield's yet but he had not found anything of significance. Nothing out of the ordinary clouded about this family. Nothing even remotely interesting about their bank accounts. Not even a lone speeding ticket.

The Caulfields themselves were the epitome of a white picket family. The father, Evan, was realtor. He worked specifically with large factory style loft apartments and seemed to be paid fairly well. The mother was nothing out of the ordinary either. She was a primary school teacher who got paid well enough- for a teacher that is. The son however, was another story it seemed. He was in and out of private boarding schools like it was his job. Eric Caulfield had been to three in the past year- all pristine and high class and all defiantly out of his parents pay range.

The boy seemed to be the only smudge he could find against them being an absolutely perfect family. But even then, the reasons for his school hopping were not noted on record. Nothing was noted for his abrupt departures. None of them had anything to do with disciplinary issues (which are commonly the cause of school hopping) and all he could find out from contacting the schools themselves was that Eric Caulfield was an exemplary student. One that the student body in general was sad to see leave. Deciding he had found out all he could he printed out a few papers just as the elevator binged, its doors opening to reveal a seemingly calm Special Agent Ziva David.

He noticed when Ziva stepped into the bull pen that she had several print outs on her person. Assuming they were from Abby he smiled- happy for the distraction the lab tech had found; hopefully one that pertained to a different case. "Abby get anything worthwhile while you were down there?" Ziva just nodded as she distributed the papers to the rest of the team- eerily quite as though in deep thought, her shift in appearance worrying McGee. Every one received a copy and all Tim got after looking them over was a headache.

"You have got to be kidding me Ziva." He heard Gibbs say. He must have zoned out while scanning the print outs because it seemed that they had started a conversation on something of importance without him noticing. "I am not. Abby said she needed McGee to confirm her translations and see if he can figure out some of the words but the dagger inscription qualifies what Abby told me."

Looking over the papers Tim noticed he had just read over the un-translated words as if they were English. Sometimes I hate my up-bringing. He stared at the paper for a bit then dutifully he started to write down what the seemingly _unknown_ words meant. Ignoring both Ziva and Gibbs (who were staring him down like he had three heads) it was Tony who broke the silence. "So… does anyone find it strange we're dealing with werewolves? What's next? Vampires? Oh My God… I feel a Twighlight reference coming on… Do tell, were the Caulfield's Native Americans?" he asked, barely able to suppress a laugh while he was at it.

McGee groaned as he heard what Tony said but decided to ignore him like he had the others- instead he focused on the translations and his computer screen which now showed him his inbox. Ziva on the other hand pointedly glared at Tony. "This is not Forks Tony- were nowhere close to the Native Americans in question." She scolded him in a very Ziva like manner with one of her hands on her hip, the other holding her own copies of the translations pointing them at him. Gibbs just grunted. "I can't believe you are arguing about a child's book." He said, still watching McGee work.

McGee searched through his desk after finishing the translations. Now is not the time for a migraine he deemed after finding a bottle of Aleve he downed a couple dry. Finally looking up at the group he noticed their attention was once again focused on him. Tony's little Twighlight escapade came to a close a little too quickly in his mind. He noticed that they seemed to be waiting for something- all of them either showing visible signs of agitation or were getting close to that point whereas Ziva paid half her attention to him and the other half to the pendant she was now fingering.

"Well?" he heard Gibbs bark out. Quickly Tim made himself focus and narrow down what he would be telling them. That however- took too long for Gibbs. "Damn it McGee, what in the hell did you find? Report, NOW." Gibbs gruffness pulled him out of his thought process just as he figured out how to go about the situation.

"From what I can gather, the Caulfields are the picture perfect family. Dad's a realtor, moms a primary teacher." He began, gaining confidence as he went. "Nothing of particular interest until you look at the boy's, Eric- seventeen years old, his school records."

At this point Dinozzo looked like he was about to interrupt but Tim continued to speak "…his records indicate that he hops from school to school. All of them are high class boarding schools which are well above his parents pay grade. Three in the last year to be exact, over all he has been to around one hundred since grade six, but he was not kicked out of any of them. His records indicate no disciplinary problems and I contacted several of them and they had the same thing to say. He was a prime student who no one thought ill of, everyone loved the kid and no one wanted him to leave."

Gibbs seemed to be analyzing what was presented, not wanting to jump to any conclusions. Ziva on the hand had moved to look over his shoulder at his translations. A nervous smile plastered on her face while she continued to play with her necklace thoughtlessly. "What about the dagger, the inscription on it. Abby said there were some words that didn't translate over for her." McGee nodded but instead of reading off what he had he scanned it- making it appear on the screen so they could all see it for themselves.

There was complete silence while the team read, re-read, and tried to comprehend what was written. To Tim it seemed to last forever since he had already intimately seen the inscription- or at least a copy of it- on his own ritual dagger. Said dagger was currently sitting in its Cherry Wood box on top of his Sire's dresser. When the silence was finally broken it was done so by Ziva, whom looked like she could not accept what was presented before her.

"As a little girl I once overheard my father talking to some of his top men. They had _accidentally_ stumbled upon a group of people whom were travelling through- where I do not know- but I do know that they mentioned the roundness of the moon." All eyes were on her now, though her own were glazed over as if she were re-living a memory.

"It seemed that some of my father's recon men had been witness to a bizarre ritual they performed. Their descriptions were whispered and harsh but they described an instance where the flesh of some was shredded as a… monster was born." McGee focused on Ziva while the rest of the group turned back to the translation. "Well, it does mention the moon. As well as a goddess who allows the 'children' to embrace… McGeek are you sure that means carnal? Some sort of carnal form- like a, wild animal?"

For an instance no one did anything, it seemed like no one even breathed. That was until McGee's computer emitted a high pitched buzzing noise, one that made Ziva jump and Dinozzo blanch. Gibbs shook his head and re-read the inscription, while yelling at McGee to make his damn machine shut up. Tim quickly did- noticing that it was the alarm he set to notify him when his computer _'magic' _had found the source of the Caulfield boys school funding.

Disclaimer: I do not own NCIS or affiliate characters.


	5. Chapter 4

_**The Blood Lilly**_

**Chapter 4:**

Tony eyed McGee skeptically as he watched him fiddle with one of his computers do-da thingies. Hmm, both McGeek and the beautiful Miss David are acting oddly. Ever since Ziva came back from Abby's layer she has been peculiarly on edge and her whole spacey day-dreamer episode when she was talking about her father was something new. Normally she has spite in her voice while talking about _him_, Eli David Head of Mussad, but today it was fear, though I have no clue if it is of her father or the situation she was referring to. Mental note- don't let Ziva look like that. It's scary- worry for her scary though, not scared of her scary. That's when she's holding a gun.

Now, McGee is another story. His behavior hasn't been normal since the beginning of the case. Although he showed his normal amount of queasiness at the crime scene he had been too quick on the draw. Normally his thoughts were slightly clouded by extreme gore but it appeared that although the site they had processed made him feel sick, he seemed acclimated to the situation. And by his book that was especially weird. No one should be acclimated to that sort of blood and gore- even if there are no discernable body parts in the mess to add connotations to the event.

Deciding to turn his attention to said boy-geek-wonder he studied him. He wasn't surprised that McGoober was hunched in front of his computer. After all that was his normal habitat, but he seemed even more focused than usual. He had finally made it stop buzzing, after several more glares and reprimands from Gibbs, but that was now replaced by his frantic typing which seemed to grow louder by the minute. Tony caught some of the mumbled words that floated over to his desk; glad that some were just loud enough to be heard. Most of what he caught was discontented curse words- fuck this, damn it, crap- but here and there were some snippets of sentences. He seemed to be cursing to some unrecognizable deity. What religion was he anyway?

With a sigh he decided that, until he had more information on McGee, he would focus on Ziva. So turning in his chair he analyzed her while she stood next to Gibbs. She was staring blankly at the translated words from the inscription which were still up on the screen while Gibbs seemed to be repeating some of the lines. '_Mother Moon shall rise above lighting a path for her little ones in their ancestors wake._' Tony noted that every few minutes Ziva would shift stances and squirm about as if Gibbs words make her uncomfortable. She still seemed flustered by the whole situation but less so now than how she was during her little 'dream' episode.

Deciding he couldn't stand anymore of Ziva's squirming he stood up. Slowly he walked up behind her and settled one of his hands on her back in an attempt to calm her. He smiled happily to himself when she seemed to relax into his touch. Slowly he leaned in and, in a whisper that was barely audible, he asked her if she was okay. At the slight nod of her head his smile grew and he stopped worrying- for now at least. Just as he was about to turn his focus back onto re-reading the inscription Gibbs spoke up; an air that clearly proclaimed 'I have an _idea_!' surrounded him.

"McGee, have you found out anything relating to whoever it was that paid the boys school bills? You claimed they were above the parents pay level, but you did not mention if they actually tried to pay for them."

Tony shifted so he could watch the interactions between the BossMan and McGoober while still maintaining his contact with Ziva whom currently had herself pressed gently into his side. He noted that McGee looked like a ghost of a man now. His attention split between his computer screen and Gibbs; looking between them both once more he turned to fully face Gibbs before answering.

"I uh, I currently have a program running to retrace the moneys path." He stated then quickly expanded on his statement. "The money was laundered into the schools accounts. Well, not laundered but close enough to it. It, so far, has been extremely difficult to track down where the tuition money came from. But… it's a work in progress."

His explanation had Gibbs nodding. Tony watched as his BossMan processed what he had just learned and worked it into the scenario he already had guesses at. "How much longer do you think it will take? I don't want to waste any more time on this inscription crap. Honestly, werewolves' people? Do you honestly think that some guy can look at the moon and turn into a whole new creature?"

Tony shook his head lightly. This was one of his BossMan's flaws, one which made having your own gut come in handy. He tended to over look possible leads because of his gut and firm belief that all things should have legitimate explanations that are of the known sort. He however thought that the inscription was at least something to consider. Ziva had mentioned that Abby's evidence was also pointing towards the inscriptions direction. And for Gibbs to just over look the inscription now meant that it would come down to a fight between him and cold hard facts- one that Tony hoped the coffee pot could hold out for.

"Uh… assuming that all of the, that uh, all of the calibration points are set correctly and that the money followed a coordinated route, with all accessible points accounted for…" At this point Tony noted that McGee eyed his watch before switching pages on his computer a few times before returning his attention to them. "About four hours, at the earliest."

Tony noted that Gibbs seemed less than pleased with McGoobers answer but he accepted it nevertheless. They had waited longer for less pertinent pieces of information- and they did not even know if this would lead to anything. They could only wait to see where it would lead. And hope that Abby could turn up some more leads for them. Tony, as per Gibbs orders, had already set a bolo out on the Caulfields. Though both of the family's cars were currently in their garage, locked; their keys in the forensics lab now for safe keeping. Dinozzo sighed as Ziva shifted against his side. Now it came down to a waiting game- he hated those.


	6. Chapter 5

_**The Blood Lilly**_

**Chapter 5:**

Dinozzo watched as his probie blanched. Whatever McGee's search had found it was either bad news for them or disturbing news in general. Moving over to stand behind him he scanned the computer screen. "A private cooperation is funding the boys schooling?" he asked- not sure if he believed it or not. McGee nodded as he reran the trace on the money. "Seems that way…" He agreed and Tony noticed, winced.

Dinozzo was confused and for once he was just joking around. 'Why is McGee so uptight and worried over a cooperation funding this kids schooling? It's not like we haven't heard of it before. The parents probably pulled some _favors_ in from the higher ups.' And even when he said it to himself he did not believe a word of it. Walking back over to his desk he ran his own check of the family- which Ziva came over to watch him do.

"Something doesn't make sense Boss." He stated as he typed. Unsure as to what but it needed to be said. "The scene itself was corrupted- it had to have been. There was blood, yes, and more than enough for several people to have been drained. But what happened to the rest of the bodies? And the fact that we found no trace of evidence leading away from the house is cause for concern." As he said this he brought up several magnified crime scene photos which showed the lack of evidence.

Gibbs looked the photos over; analyzing them each critically as Dinozzo continued to type. "Probie- you said the father did loft real-estate yeah?" McGee nodded as he watched Dinozzo. "And the mom's an elementary school teacher?" Again he received a nod. Pulling up several pages of information onto the big screen he looked it over- ignoring his own computer. 'This makes no sense… why are we even on this case?' he asked himself, then out loud.

"Why are we even on this case?"

It was a good question. They had all assumed that one of the parents had a Naval past and it had been kicked over to them but the paperwork Tony had pulled up showed no military connection at all. The boy hadn't even talked to a school recruiter yet though here they are; on a case seemingly about werewolves that has absolutely no Naval/Military connection whatsoever. His quick catch had pushed the thought of McGee's reaction to the back of his mind temporarily but now, as he thought about it, he was even more curious.

"One hundred schools in seven years. What was this kid doing?" he asked himself before turning slightly to look over at McGee who now had his head resting on his hands- he looked like he was about to pass out. "And why did you freak at the name of the company?"

At this point Dinozzo wasn't surprised at the confused look on Tim's face as he claimed that he did no such thing. To that Dinozzo scoffed and turned to Gibbs who was still analyzing the screen. "I will figure out what's going on… however it might take awhile.' He thought before asking the question that was no on every one's mind. "Who put us on this case?"

Gibbs was silent for a minute before he went back to his own desk, grabbed a copy of the original file, and scanned through it. "Apparently- that's classified. What the hell is going on here?" Dinozzo paused in thought for a moment…

"A cheesy governmental cover-up?" He asked- dead serious as he watched Gibbs run a hand across his face before demanding them to "Get warrants on the company and as much information as you can find. I'll be in MTAC." And with that said he watched as his BossMan stalked up the stairs with Ziva, surprisingly, following him.

Turning his gaze back onto McGee he waited. He knew his gaze scared McGee into talking about most things but it seemed that his Probie was going to be tight lipped about this. Which, regarding the circumstances already surrounding this case, made him seem suspicious. Even if I am the only one to notice so far… 'Though knowing Gibbs he already has this entire thing figured out.' Deciding that for now the direct approach was probably best if he wanted to get answers he got up, stalked over to McGee's station, and cornered him.

"There gone- it's just you and me now so you can spill whatever is on your mind Probie." Instead of an answer Tony watched as McGee continued to type- completely ignoring both his presence and his question. Now he was thoroughly annoyed. So, with a smirk, he spun McGee's chair around so he was now face to face with him. "Talk. Now." Without a word McGee just watched him- lips tightly sealed.

"I know some things up. Normally you're all happy dance when you find information that could help a case- especially when it's through your computer. But today you reacted as if that information was the devil. As if you know who they are and they just sealed your fate by pinging onto your screen." With that said he still received silence as an answer… 'Something is going on and I will find out what. This is not Probies normal attitude. Not at all.'

Once he reached his desk and sat down he continued to watch McGee; who had gone back to typing. He didn't expect to get anything now, not after his perpetual silence, so he was surprised when McGee did turn to face him. "What about Ziva?" Was all he managed to say before he turned back to his computer.

Tony was floored. 'McGee's trying to shift suspicion onto Ziva?' He shook his head not believing it. "What about her?" he asked and, once again, did not receive an answer. 'Although she has been acting different since we started this case. Her following Gibbs into MTAC was odd as well.' So, with a sigh, he went on to ponder about the situation while trying to get Gibbs his warrants.

**Authors Note:**

**I know that this chapter does not meet anyone's standards in regards to quality- and personally I hate it. But I lost inspiration for this story for awhile and now I'm trying to get that back so that hopefully soon I will be able to get back in the flow of things. And I'm sorry that I took so long to get back into what little grove I have here but sometimes writers block just does not go away.**

**~Deam**


	7. Chapter 6

_**The Blood Lilly**_

**Chapter 6:**

Vance stood motionless, staring at the large screen that was currently streaming footage from a convoy attack in Afghanistan. This was the third attack in a two week time span and he was getting heat from all sides about it. It was quickly turning into a mess and suspicion being placed high in the ranks of the FBI was not helping. NCIS and the FBI barely got along- even though they are sister agencies. And since these attacks all involved marines it was falling under his jurisdiction. With a sigh he motioned for the controller to cut the feed although as soon as he did another feed came up on the screen. Unfortunately it was more footage from the other convoy attacks.

His attention however, was diverted by a beeping noise, alerting him to an incoming agent. Vance turned on his heels just in time to watch as a furious Leeroy Jethro Gibbs burst into MTAC. Setting his body in an authoritative stance Vance waited for the oncoming storm that was an angry Gibbs and lucky for him he didn't have to wait very long. "Why were assigned the Caulfield case?" he demanded. Which made Vance chuckle lightly.

"Straight to the point I see Gibbs." His response only seemed to infuriate the man even more but Vance didn't let that deter him. "The case is yours because I assigned it to you. If you have a problem with that I can pull you off of the case and just let Dinozzo take lead."

Vance watched, almost amused, as rage passed across Gibbs' face. He enjoyed provoking his best agent. Vance had noticed that if he provoked the man their work became more important and they solved the case faster with more proficiency. As he waited for Gibbs to calm down he noticed that Agent David followed him into MTAC and positioned her body unnoticed by the door. Deciding that he would ignore Gibbs for now he pointedly looked over at Ziva.

"What can I do for you Miss David?" Vance noticed that she seemed nervous. And that was truly something to make note of when talking about their newest agent, and former Mossad member, Miss Ziva David.

"I am also curious as to why our team has been assigned this case Sir."

Vance sighed as he looked between two of his best agents. He now had no other choice but to tell them why, at least partially why, they were assigned to take on the Caulfield case. An angry Gibbs he could deal with; a pissed off David was an entirely different situation. Luckily he had prepared for this to happen. He knew it would eventually… but they had just started their investigation. He thought he would have more time than that.

"Seeing as how I have no other choice in the manner I will explain to you why I have my best field agents working on a case that has seemingly nothing to do with the Navy or the Marines." Looking over at the controller he nodded in assent to bring up a video file on screen and watched how his agents reacted.

….

Gibbs was quite as they left MTAC- after seeing the video him and Ziva had debriefed the Director about their current findings and Vance had only nodded. He wasn't sure how to process the information he had been given but he knew he needed too. That file could contain clues as to how to solve this case but for now he could not make a connection to anything. He had managed, after some persuasion, to convince Vance to let Abby at the file incase she could find out anything of value. He hoped she would.

At this moment though he was concerned about the state Ziva was in. She had been quiet throughout the video, barely added information to the debriefing, and was now silent and pensive. He tried to ask her about it as soon as they left MTAC but she said she was fine- thinking was all. But he could tell there was something more. That she was trying hard to either remember something or forget but he wasn't sure which.

Guiding Ziva down the stairs Gibbs glanced over the bullpen. Tony was on the phone- hopefully getting those warrants, and McGee was typing away on his computer. And he noticed that every few seconds Dinozzo would look up from his notepad and glance over at Tim while he talked. Had Tony spotted something he had missed? It was possible but before he got to ponder any of those situations Dinozzo hung up his phone and noticed him.

"Got those warrants you asked for boss. The judge wasn't too thrilled when I tried to explain why we needed them but in the end he signed them anyway." Gibbs nodded in thanks as he went straight to his desk and looked through the warrants that sat there. "Dinozzo, you and McGee go through all of their online records. Check everything and I want a report in two hours. Ziva- you're with me. Grab your bag and let's go." Gibbs heard McGee's groan at being partnered with Tony and saw that Dinozzo was shooting Ziva worried glances; although she didn't seem to notice.

Grabbing his bag he made his way over to the elevator, holding the door for Ziva as she grabbed her things. He noticed the she strapped an extra knife onto her thigh before leaving. He decided then his course of action- hoping that Ziva wouldn't stab him along the way.

…..

Once in the elevator with the doors closed Gibbs flipped the emergency stop switch. The lights blinked out for a second before the glow of the safety lights came on. He noticed that Ziva seemed to tense and he recognized that she realized what was happening.

"Gibbs I am fine." She protested though he chose to blatantly ignore her. He looked over her stance once again and noticed that her left arm was pulled in close to her body while her right hand rested over the knife strapped at her thigh. She was anxious, frightened, and totally un-Ziva-ish. So Gibbs shook his head.

"You are not fine. And I know that because I can read you like an open book and that worries me. You're not Tony. I shouldn't be capable of reading you but yet- right now- I am. So, what's the matter Ziva and be honest. Lying to me won't work right now."

She sighed before bringing her right arm up to cross her left. Gibbs could tell she was debating about talking to him so, deciding not to push her into it, he waited.

"When I told you about my father's men, the ones who witnessed the monster, I was lying." She began- and to Gibbs it seemed as if she could not find the exact words to what she wanted to say. "I was not a little girl who happened to over hear them talking. I was on the reconnaissance team." Gibbs nodded for her to continue- he knew there had to be more to it than that.

"We were supposed to gather intelligence against some rebel groups in the area and we chose to ignore the local's warnings about the Diab- or, the Wolf." Gibbs noticed that this time the pause was not due to lack of descriptive terminology but because she was keeping herself from crying.

"We surveyed the area surrounding the local village, set up an observation post on a nearby ridge, and watched. What we saw was gruesome- and I am not sure of the words to describe it. However in the end, I was the only surviving member of the team. They had ambushed us as we watched- I only escaped because my second in command fought off the beasts and commanded me to run. To this day I am not sure if I am thankful for his actions. He had a wife, and two daughters." Gibbs nodded at the end of her tale.

He noticed tears were silently making their way down her cheeks and, uncharacteristically, he pulled her into a hug. She did not fight like he expected but instead just rested her forehead on his shoulder.


	8. Chapter 7

_**The Blood Lilly:**_

**Chapter 7:**

Abby found herself stumped and resigned to listening to her music while pouting with her hippo- Bert. Normally she could solve any puzzle that the team sent her way but this case was an enigma that had her wanting to scream. She could _not_ trace her samples to _any_ other samples in _any_ database. So- with that in mind, she wanted to beat the crap out of the perp who dared to stump her genius. She however, had the notion that she had seen this somewhere before but right at this moment she had not even the faintest of ideas.

That was until Bert farted for the twenty-fifth time. It seems, at least for me, she noted, that the twenty-fifth time is the charm. And with that thought Abby found herself rushing to her computer once more. When you can't find anything in the generals section, she thought, search through the secure networks! So, after entering some very complicated parameters and code into her computer she began the, slightly less than legal, search for similar results.

Once finished with her computer she danced her way over to her lab table; still covered in piles of sample bags. Happy once again she began sifting through the numerous bags again. Not thinking she would find anything new but instead thinking of sorting them into some sort of sensible piles. However her pile sorting was cut short when she noticed a fleck of blue matter, or presumably it was blue, embedded into one of the skin samples; sample 6 7-e4-88 to be precise.

Grabbing a fresh and uncontaminated pair of gloves and forceps Abby transferred the small blue-ish fleck into a sterile Petri dish before rushing over to the other side of the lab. Deciding to light test the fleck Abby jotted down her initial data regarding the unknown. After she was finished she maneuvered the dish under a light which emitted not only visible light but Infa-red and UV wave lengths as well. Grabbing her remote Abby turned down the lights in the lab while turning up the volume of her music.

It took awhile but after half an hour of manipulating different frequencies Abby squealed in delight. It glowed! Pausing she frowned. Now all I have left to do is figure out what that means and why it's important and how it can help the case. She was pensive for a moment before smiling; at least it's a lead. That's more than what I had half an hour ago. Going over to a different monitor Abby printed out the results and just stared at them for a minute. The piece was almost metallic in nature but not quite. It was pliable for the edges of the piece that was broken off it seemed crafted. Then a certain number caught her eye. This just keeps getting better and better.

As Abby turned to bring her findings up to the bullpen she noticed that Director Vance was casually leaning against her doorframe; watching her in clear amusement. Blinking a few times to make sure he was actually there she rushed to turn off her music which was now pounding out a very descriptive song pertaining to a man's horrific torture.

"Director Vance! What are you doing down here, I mean, not that you can't be down here, but, why are you down here?" She watched as the man smiled and walked over to her bank of computers before placing an unmarked disk on top of the desk. She eyed the disk warily before moving over to pick it up.

"Miss Scuito, this disk contains information that I believe would be helpful pertaining to your current case. However I wish to impart that you keep this to yourself-" Abby glared at him when she learned that she had to keep the disk to herself but then was confused when Vance continued. "You may also share this with Gibbs and the team but if you are questioned by anyone else tell them nothing. Do you understand?" Abby shook her head in agreement and watched as the Director nodded to the disk once again. "Get to it." And after that she watched him walk out of her lab. All she could think of was that this case kept getting weirder and weirder.

…

The ride to the corporation's local office had been quiet but Gibbs didn't expect much else after what transpired in the elevator. Ziva had taken the hug in stride and he had as well. He didn't know what came over him but he couldn't stand to see her hurt. She was part of _his_ team and he _wouldn't_ let his team break down without doing something to help them out. And anyway, somehow he knew the hug was the right course of action and he speculated that both Shannon and Kelly would have agreed. Maybe that's what it was. Maybe he considered Ziva to be like a daughter to him.

…..

Abby was afraid her eyes were malfunctioning. She did not believe what she was witnessing yet she had a flake of proof right here in her lab. She had run every test possible to verify the video and all told her the same thing; that the video was authentic. It also explained why the fleck reacted the way it did. It served as an identification tag. She wanted to say dog tag but that, she thought, would be too much of a pun.

In fact, it seemed as if the blue piece was chipped off of the tip of the tag where, unfortunately, nothing was engraved. She had even identified the exact curve of the tag from which this piece was chipped from. Vance was right, the video had been helpful. But now all she had left to do was to inform Gibbs so that he could work his magic. Hopefully his gut will have a hunch. So, after printing out several enlarged still shots of the tag Abby traipsed off to the bullpen to inform Gibbs and the rest of the team.

….

McGee groaned as he and Tony sifted through information. The man had not stopped shooting him weary looks since Gibbs and Ziva left and it was grating on his nerves to the point where he wanted to tell all just to get it over with. But he wouldn't let himself succumb to those urges. Or else he would have more to fear than just Tony and Gibbs and that idea alone made him keep his mouth shut. And he was about to tell Tony to piss off when an instant message popped up on his computer screen which made McGee want to both cry and go shoot something until it blew up. Gritting his teeth as he swore silently McGee stood. Knowing that at this moment he looked totally suspicious but not caring in the least.

"I'm going for coffee. I'll be back in an hour. Call if Gibbs comes back and wants a cup." Was all he dared to say as he walked towards the elevator which, for some asinine reason, was taking entirely too long to get here. McGee ignored Tony completely as the man came up to stand next to him except to tell him that he was most defiantly not joining in on the coffee run but was thwarted before he could start by Abby running out of the elevator and directly into them as the doors opened. McGee, being as off guard as he could be, landed on his back with Abby on top of him while Dinozzo only staggered several steps back.

"Where's Gibbs?" She asked from her position perched on McGee's chest. McGee just began to lightly bang his head on the floor when Tony answered her question. "He and Ziva went to enforce a warrant on the corporation that funded the Caulfield boys schooling. Why?" At this point McGee actually looked up at the woman on top of him and regretted doing so for some unknown reason her hand jutted out to the chain around his neck. "This is why!" she claimed as she showed the silver-blue moon to Tony; partially choking McGee in the process.

In a rush of realization McGee sat up, the motion thankfully knocking Abby off of him and dislodging her grasp of the pendant enough for him to pull it free. Without further though McGee stood up and fled the bullpen, he could hear Abby's 'Oh no, you're not!' but by that point he was in the elevator with the doors closed behind him. Quickly he pushed the button for the car garage and sighed thankfully as the elevator started its decent. Now all he could do was wonder how Abby recognized the pendant, as there wasn't one left on the scene, and what he was going to do next. That is, after all, after he met up with his Sire.


	9. Chapter 8

_**The Blood Lilly**_

_**Chapter 8:**_

Ziva ran a hand though her hair as she got out of the car and waited for Gibbs. She checked over her weapons several times, quickly and nonchalantly, as she waited. She was off guard and she knew it but she couldn't shake the feeling of being watched off. Ever since they had left the naval yard she had had this feeling and it had been slowly growing. She nodded to Gibbs as she followed him inside; wondering if this feeling and the case were related as she went.

Immediately they were accosted by a security guard and forced to show their badges and once the man was satisfied with whom they were he demanded to see the warrant. He was pushy and held them up; a right tight arse if she could say so herself. It took another ten minutes to push their way through the man and onto the secretary who; Ziva noted, had picked up her phone the minute they arrived and had not dropped it since. The minute they arrived at her desk she held her hand up to stop them. Ziva could tell Gibbs was about to burst when the woman waved them back; noting that they should go down the hall and take the first door on the left. Ziva nodded at the woman who promptly ignored her and started typing things into the computer.

"Their stalling us Gibbs." She said as soon as they were down the hallway. He only nodded though she could feel the anger radiating off of him. She laughed quietly at the thought that came to her mind. Tony would probably say that Gibbs was going to rip someone a new one. She thought that this euphemism was particularly accurate most cases.

….

Gibbs had thought the lady-secretary was directing them towards an office but the room they walked into looked more like MTAC than any corporate office he'd ever seen. There were several large screens and computers scattered about the room and a large couch directly in front of the largest screen. A man occupied the couch and seemed to be the one in control for as soon as the others in the room noticed their presence they left. Obviously they had been instructed to do so long before they had arrived.

"What the hell is going on here?" Gibbs asked as he walked over towards the couch. He watched as the man stood and turned to greet them. He was a big man. Well muscled; defiantly Marine material Gibbs thought as he analyzed him. His hair cut agrees with me as well; he noted.

"My name is James. But you can call me Jay if you like." He said as he walked the short distance to Gibbs and stuck out his hand. Gibbs reluctantly accepted the hand and shook it; hard. While he was shaking the hand he introduced himself and Ziva- who was now analyzing all of the screens. At that point Gibbs let go and decided that bluntness was the best option.

"What connection do you have to the Caulfield family?"

The man only smiled and let out a breath before he motioned to the main screen. Gibbs now noticed the control in his other hand that would make McGee tech jealous. He read over the screen, through all the data presented to him, and swore.

"You have got to be kidding me." Was all he could manage before the man switched to a different image; this time of one of his one agents, his youngest. Timothy McGee.

….

"Abby! Slow down and breathe already. Then, once you're done hyperventilating, explain slowly." Tony had forced her down into his seat after they realized McGee was in the wind. He wanted answers and she seemed to have them. It might take awhile to extract them from her though. He noted that she had finally come back to herself when she spun in the chair once then stood up and shoved a picture in his face. From what he could tell it was of a blue speck, magnified, and sub planted on an even larger image of a necklace around some mystery person.

"What's that?" Wrong question he guessed as she glared at him.

"That's what was around Timmy's neck! It was part of the video and matches Tony! That means McGee is a part of this. It matches the blue speck I found and came to tell Gibbs about!" She was starting to hyperventilate again and once again he sat her down in his chair and demanded she slow down.

"Slowly explain Abby. What matches what and what video are you talking about?" this time- instead of explaining she stood up, grabbed his tie, and Dinozzo found himself being dragged into the elevator.

…..

Gibb was pacing the MTAC look alike. He wasn't sure if he could completely process what he had been told but there was proof. He had to believe it. Even he wasn't that dense. Looking between the pictures on the screen and the other man in the room he sighed. Hopefully he got this right.

"You're telling me one of my best agents is a recently turned werewolf. And that we are not looking for a dead werewolf family but instead a lone wolf. And that the missing werewolf is not a teenager like we were lead to believe but instead he is one of your agents that scouts private schools looking for naturally born werewolves who are about to come into their maturity? And you think someone has kidnapped him because… what? One too many Little Red Ridinghood stories before bedtime?" He heard the man laugh. It was a deep throaty sound that made him on edge.

"In an essence yes; except we like to be referred to as Morpho Sapiens. And young Timothy is one of our newer cases yes. He was illegally turned so I took him under my wing once we learned of him and his particular job. I am the head of the, security, department for our community. And I thought this would be the best way to gather your attention."

Gibbs paused before glaring at him. "Well why the fuck did you not just come forth in the first place?" Gibbs watched as he laughed again. He was really getting sick of this man but he would have to play along to get the information he needed.

"Would you have really believed me if I told you? I think not."

Gibbs ran a hand across his face. The man had a point. But the things they had shown him since they got here would have changed his mind. But there was no going back now; even Ziva was convinced. She was off on the other side of the room with Markus' handler; the agent who played the Caulfield boy, going over his information. He was about to ask James more questions when his cell phone rang.

…..

"BossMan McGee split. Abby found evidence connecting him to the Caulfield boy and he up and ran. I couldn't grab him before he got out of the building."

Tony had to pull the phone away from his ear as Gibbs began to swear. Then he listened in as he heard him talking to someone else who was with him. There was a long pause before Gibbs spoke again.

"I want you and Abby to some meet me now. I haven't left their local offices but Ziva is sending you the address as we speak. Bring your gear with you."

Tony waited for further instructions but all Gibbs did was hang up. He looked over at Abby who was now printing out numerous different results. He told her to pack up while he grabbed his things and to meet him at his car. He didn't bother to wait for the questions he knew she had. Instead he dialed Probies number as he ran up the stairs to the bullpen.


	10. Chapter 9

_**The Blood Lilly**_

**Chapter 9:**

McGee found the address his Sure sent him fairly easily. It was a small coffee shop on the outskirts of a fairly sketchy neighborhood but that didn't scare him. What did scare him was the fact that his Sire wasn't around. Normally, no always, when Jay requested a rendezvous he was already sitting with a cup of coffee for both of them but not seeing him here now made him on edge.

Going over to the register McGee asked the cashier if he'd seen jay; even after he'd shown the man a picture of him he still told him the same thing. That no one looking like him had come into the café today. Now he was concerned, but not for Jay; for himself. He didn't know what was going on but he didn't like the feel of it so far. Thinking for a minute he decided to order a cup of coffee and wait awhile.

So, as he sipped his coffee, he scanned the interior of the café once again. No one looked suspicious but that didn't mean they weren't; besides him and the cashier there were only three other patrons in the place. To his left he watched as two young lovers basked in each other's presences and, to his right a bit, there was an elderly man sipping on a cup of coffee as he read the mornings paper. He was drawn out of his café stupor by the ringing of his cell phone. Pulling it out of his pocket he groaned as he read the caller ID; Dinozzo. Finally he decided to silence the call. He knew that Tony knew more about computers than he let on so there was always the chance that they could trace the call; with that thought in mind he switched it off. Now there's no chance they'll be able to find me.

….

Dinozzo swore as he waited by the car for Abby. He had tried calling McGee three more times yet they kept going to voicemail. Probie must have shut off his damn phone, he thought as he watched Abby walk towards him. Giving her a fake smile he got into the car and, once Abby was buckled, headed towards their destination- 1500 Seely Street. Going over the directions that Gibbs had sent him in his head he didn't notice when Abby asked him a question; though he did notice when she Gibbs smacked him.

"What the hell was that for Abbs?"

She just rolled her eyes and started shuffling through some papers she had piled into a folder. "I was trying to get your attention Tony. No need for foul language. And I asked, several times, if you could get through to McGee?" He just responded by shaking his head. He couldn't connect the pieces yet to his Probie and he hoped he could soon. He would rather find Tim before Gibbs did for he was afraid of what the senior agent would do to him.

Deciding not to think about it was the only thing Tony found himself doing as he drove yet the questions continued to try and nag at him. The questions wouldn't stop and Tony found himself gripping the steering wheel harder, his knuckles turning white in the process. He did manage though, to catch what Abby said this time.

"Everything will turn out alright."

….

Gibbs watched as Jay turned ghost white and began to shake his head. So, it did not surprise him when, he ran over to a computer and began typing things into it. Gibbs watched him panic for a few more minutes until he chose to ask why he was panicking.

"Your agent just said Tim pulled a runner right?"

Gibbs nodded. He was worried about Tim as well but, to him, it seemed like he was missing a part of the puzzle. "It's not like him, but we'll find him." Gibbs said in his best Marine voice he could muster but raised an eyebrow when Jay just shook his head and ran a hand across his face.

"Tim has his orders," Gibbs watched as he continued to type and became more worried for his junior agent. "He wouldn't run like this unless it came from me as a direct order to get out of there."

Gibbs nodded and, halfway through a nod, realized what he was implicating. "Let me guess, you told him to stay put." Jay nodded…

"I sent him a message that he should act normal and to not break contact from his NCIS partners. And now his phone is shut off and I can't find a trace of him anywhere."

Gibbs swore and went to stand next to Jay so he could watch what he was doing; which turned out to be running a facial recognition program through all available camera angles leaving the base. Feeling a presence behind him he wasn't surprised when Ziva spoke up.

"Could he have been taken as well?"

….

McGee sighed as he stood up and stretched his legs. He decided that since his Sire wasn't here he would go to HQ to meet him instead and, as he left the café, he noticed a van parked next to his car. Throwing his cup away in a bin next to the café he casually reached to retrieve his gun and swore when it was not in its holster. The only place he could have left it was in his desk drawer and swore when he noticed three individuals surrounding him on the side walk. They were all in black and McGee realized that their hood were up to obscure their faces from any watching cameras.

Before he realized what was happening McGee had a hood over his head and he was being pushed in, what he assumed was the direction of the van, he started to struggle. His attempts to escape were thwarted however by a burning sensation on the back of his neck and his sides. The only conclusion he could come to before he blacked out was several high powered stun guns.


	11. Chapter 10

_**The Blood Lilly**_

**Chapter 10:**

All Gibbs could do was watch as Jay brought up multiple angles of NCIS, spanning all exits and streets leading out of the area. So far he had gone through eight security cameras and four ATM cameras and all they had were three shots of McGee; two from in the parking garage and one from a side street leading towards the Washington district.

"There!" At that Jay froze the screen as Ziva pointed out what he had missed. Gibbs noted it was a side shot of McGee's car in a line of traffic heading south down Blitzer Avenue. From the Gibbs watched as Jay traced him through multiple cameras until they lost him somewhere around the corner of Seely and 8th. Just then the door bust open and Gibbs spun on the spot. Dinozzo and Abby had their eyes glued on the screen behind him and he could hear Jay swearing.

Turning back around as Abby dashed by he looked up at the screen, not wanting to see what was there but having to anyway. There were three still shots from an ATM across the street from a small café; taken in five second intervals but it was just enough. The first was of Tim coming out of the café, the second of him being surrounded by hooded individuals, the last was of him being stunned as he was shoved into a white panel van.

"Plates?" he barked out, hoping for that McGee's sake they had a good shot, from any angle. Jay just shook his head as Abby rushed over to the computer and pushed the Morph aside. She started typing away furiously as she cleared up resolution and zoomed in on one of the hooded men.

"No plates. Front and back were both missing and from the tint on the windows we can't get a face shot of the driver or any of the hooded men." Gibbs swore silently as he turned back to Abby who was still typing away and now comparing two different images.

…

Jay focused in on what the Goth girl was analyzing. He couldn't believe what he was seeing but he had to… this was an inside job. "This was an inside job." He mumbled before rushing over to her and pulling up other images on the computer next to hers. As he typed he heard the newest NCIS agent ask what was going on and ignored them as Gibbs and Miss David began to explain.

"Gibbs why is this now an inside job and what do these pendent's mean? And would you mind telling me where TIMMY IS?" He heard her yell from the computer next to him and he thought he should explain this one.

"Well, you're currently analyzing Morpho ID tags. The upper members of the patrol, our police, wear them for identification and authorization purposes; like your ID cards except better. And it's now an inside job because I did not order the kidnapping of my mate and it seems that you found a glimpse of one of the tags in the images of Tim's kidnappers."

I half listened as Gibbs added in more information as I ran signal pickups for Tim's tag. So far I had run three, bouncing two of them off of secure satellites, but kept coming to the same conclusion; the tag must have been disabled. Rushing over to a different computer I ordered the Goth girl, whom Gibbs had called Abby, to see if she could get any of the numbers off of the partial image of the tag.

"This had to be an inside tag. The signal those tags emit can be received through a mile of rock; since I can't pick up on Tim's it leaves little evidence to hope that it was just a random kidnapping." I was talking for myself more so than anyone else yet Eli spoke up from his spot next to Ziva.

…...

The man was truly a good man. He was concerned for his agent in the field and now more so because of McGee having been taken. Listening as Eli spoke I nodded in thought. If they had both been taken by the same people then it stands to reason they are being held together. "I agree with Eli." Tony just stared at me as I explained why though I could not tell if he was stunned by my intellect or jealous of how close I was standing to Eli.

"If the tags get into close enough proximity; even if both are off, it should be safe enough to assume that their signals would still radiate off of each other. Possibly amplifying them enough to the point where, of you scan hard enough, they may be faintly detected." Putting my hand on Eli's shoulder I smiled and looked over towards Tony- yep, jealous I conclude. Noting Jays nod my smile grew, that was until he pointed out that that would only work if they had just disabled them; not completely smashed them.

Even as my smile faded Abby shot me a grin then pinned Jay down with a glare. I laughed a bit as she threatened Jay that if he didn't find her Timmy that she would torture and kill him without leaving a shred of evidence; and I was a bit surprised when he had enough sense to nod and shudder at the thought.

….

McGee groaned as he felt his head thudded against the bottom of the van, he had only been unconscious for a minute or two (he hoped), but his head was killing him. He was still hooded though he noted an addition to his predicament. He was now bound with rope. His hands were tied behind his back as well as his ankles were tied together and, with a slight tug at the restraints, noticed that the reason he could extend his legs is that his ankles were also tied to his wrists, completely preventing him from standing but still slack enough for him to have blood circulation to his legs and feet.

His groaned as his head thudded again. Where ever they were going they were going there fast; but still within the speed limit most likely. He didn't think whoever took him would be dumb enough to get pulled over- but he could hope couldn't he? A minute later he felt a foot rest on his side. They probably don't know I'm awake yet…

As soon as he thought that he heard the men start talking. From what he could tell there were five in total; one driving, one waiting that was waiting in the back, and the three that grabbed him. Great… five against one, I'm screwed. Letting out another groan he felt the foot, feet, on top of him shift.

"So boys, who's gonna go first when we get there?"


End file.
